Chevrolet Caprice

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CHEVROLET CAPRICE - PAGE 4

The Public Health and Safety Committee has authorized the police department to have two of its squad cars rebuilt at a dealership in Lansing, Mich. The dealership, Shaheen Chevrolet, is the only one in the country that rebuilds Chevrolet Caprice police squad cars, Acting Police Chief Clint Herdegen said at a committee meeting this week. The cost of rebuilding the cars will range from $8,000 to $12,000 each, depending on what's needed. Herdegen said that compares with the $20,000 cost of purchasing a new squad car. The department had authorization to buy seven new vehicles during its next fiscal year, but decided to reduce that figure to five and rebuild two of the squads as part of a pilot program.

General Motors Corp. will end production of its largest Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac cars next year and shift to truck production at the Arlington, Texas, plant where the cars are built. Tuesday's announcement means that after the 1996 model year, the world's largest car company won't be making the big, rear-wheel-drive cars that were the foundation of the U.S. industry until fuel-economy rules and changing buyer tastes made them an endangered species. The decision to eliminate the Cadillac Fleetwood, Buick Roadmaster and Chevrolet Caprice and Impala SS models was driven by the market, GM's president of North American operations, G. Richard Wagoner, said in a news release.

A 36-year-old North Side man was charged with attempted murder Sunday for allegedly running down his girlfriend with his car during an argument. Police said a fight between Raynard Rayford and Latonya Parker, 26, escalated early Saturday outside her apartment in the 7600 block of North Greenview Avenue when he allegedly knocked her down with his car and repeatedly drove over her. Police said Rayford, of the 900 block of North Sedgwick Street, also struck another women with his car and hit a third women with a wooden nightstick.

Less than a week after two murders in Joliet, police are investigating two more unrelated shooting deaths that occurred on Sunday. The victims were identified as Douglas Petan, 20, of Crest Hill, who was killed during an armed robbery at the Jiffy Lube auto service shop, at 1600 N. Larkin Ave., and Paul E. Williams, 31, a Romeoville man who was shot in his van and found dead in the 800 block of Collins Street, where he had crawled for help....

A 25-year-old Chicago man was charged in the deaths of three people Saturday after his car, traveling an estimated 100 m.p.h., struck a pedestrian and then collided with another vehicle in a nearby South Side intersection, authorities said. Dishon McNary of the 6400 block of South Oakley Avenue was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of reckless homicide in connection with the two accidents, said a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.

Chicago police Tuesday were looking for four occupants of a beige Chevrolet Caprice that struck and killed a South Side mechanic and father of three after a quarrel on North Western Avenue. Hilmon Joseph Carr, 29, a brother and three friends were driving south on Western at about 2:30 a.m. Monday when Carr and the occupants in the Caprice exchanged words, police said. The driver of the Caprice cut off Carr in the 1500 block, police said. An altercation began on the street, police said, and, according to witnesses, the driver of the Caprice then struck Carr with his car before driving away.

Police were searching Sunday for the drivers of two cars involved in separate hit-and-run accidents that killed two bicyclists over the weekend. The accidents occurred Saturday night on the South Side within hours of each other, said Sgt. Roseann Fitzgerald of the Chicago Police Department's major accident investigation section. Kenneth Walker, 24, of 7140 S. Cornell Ave., and William Block, 14, of 1420 E. Marquette Rd., died in the accidents. Walker and a friend were riding bicycles southbound in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive at 9:22 p.m. Saturday when Walker's bike was struck head-on by a car, Fitzgerald said.

A new front-wheel drive Chevrolet Lumina four-door sedan will probably be patrolling streets soon as a test car for the Police Department, despite skepticism that the mid-size vehicle won't perform up to standards. The full-size Chevrolet Caprice, a mainstay of squad car service in many police departments, is being taken out of production by General Motors Corp. The limited selection of vehicles for police use prompted the Village Board's Planning, Building and Development Committee to recommend purchase of a 1996 Lumina for $16,801.

It's boxy, guzzles gas and spits out hubcaps. But to cops, the Chevrolet Caprice is an old stand-by, a tank with sports-car speed. Since General Motors Corp. discontinued the Caprice in 1996 to make way for the Tahoe, a sport-utility vehicle, many police departments have switched to the Ford Crown Victoria. But some officers pine for their beloved Caprice, which is bigger, faster and, the police say, more dependable. So the police in the Albany suburb of Bethlehem, along with some other police departments across the country, are choosing to renovate rather than replace their high-mileage cars.

A North Chicago alderman is questioning the city's purchase of 10 new police cars last month without the prior approval of the City Council. Ald. Bette Thomas also questioned why North Chicago paid more than $17,000 for each car, when, she claimed, Mundelein was able to purchase the same model cars for $12,000 each. Mayor Bobby Thompson acknowledged this week that the purchase price was high but said the city had no choice. "We probably could have saved $4,000 to $5,000 if we`d been able to buy them back in February or March, but at that time we didn`t have the money," he said.